The Remote
Controlled Top

Sketch #3

Description

This toy acts like a traditional Top, and the child interacts with it as such. However, product owners can manipulate the direction in which this top travels while spinning. Children can impress their friends and surprise unsuspecting adults with a concealed remote control device that controls yaw, direction, and speed.

A motorized gyroscope keeps a weight balanced inside the middle of the Top. The weight, when shifted by a small servo, changes the angle of spin and thus the direction in which the top moves.

Construction costs include several a wooden shell (~$2), internal gearing (~$3), a DC motor and servo ($4), and a small weight ($1). In total, the toy would cost around $10.00 to build. Yet again, mass production would most likely halve the procduction cost.